AUTONAUTAS

The Basque Institute of Architecture joins the celebration of the European Heritage Days ‘Kulturaren bideak. Where culture connects’ with an activity that will unite the territories of Araba and Bizkaia.

Inspired by the journey of the Autonauts and their adventures and misadventures through the non-places of France that appears in the novel by Julio Cortázar and Carol Dunlop ‘Los autonautas de la cosmopista’, we have created a small itinerary by road. We will make the journey by bus and stop at different service areas that connect the territories of Alava and Bizkaia, where we will carry out artistic actions that will allow us to positively appreciate these spaces.

During the journey, we will take part in various activities, which could range from a landscape sketching to a collective snack or even a contemporary dance among the petrol pumps.

There are five places (or non-places) p that we will visit, counting the starting and finishing points.

– DEPARTURE: Goya Gas Station, Vitoria.

The activity will begin in Vitoria, at the Goya Petrol Station (Monseñor Cadena y Eleta Kalea, 2, 01008 Gasteiz, Araba). We will visit the Goya petrol station building with architect Leticia García Moreno, an expert in rationalist architectural heritage. Together with her, we will discover the petrol station building which was designed by the architect José Luis López Uralde in 1935.

– 1st Stop. AP68. Cuartango rest area (KM 47)

At our first stop on the tour, we will explore this ‘non-place’ to sit perhaps concentrically on folding chairs around a picnic table. We will also enjoy an artistic performance by dancer and choreographer Jon Munduate.

– 2nd Stop. AP68. Altube service area (KM 36)

In this service station with petrol station we will have the possibility to learn about graphic design and road typography. This part will start on the road, inside the bus. The guest artist will be the architect François Chastanet, expert in graphic design and typography.

– 3rd Stop. AP68. Amurrio rest area (KM25)

In this rest station, which stands out for its natural environment and its generous woodland, we can carry out an activity related to nature (exploration and drawing). We will take the opportunity to have a small picnic-lunch with local products.

– ARRIVAL: San Mamés Garage, Bilbao.

We will explore Bilbao’s San Mamés Garage (San Mames Zumarkalea, 47, Abando, 48010 Bilbao, Bizkaia) again with architect Leticia García Moreno, an expert in rationalist architectural heritage. Together with her, we will discover the building constructed by Francisco Villanueva Orbea, José María Sainz de Aguirre and Pascual Perea Chávarri between 1941 and 1955.